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Gabriela Mako

Literature Resource Center - Document - 0 views

  • many scholars consider the novel to be dystopian (about a miserable society), and compare it favorably to adult classics like Brave New World (1933), Fahrenheit 451 (1953), and 1984 (1940) as well as to children's classics like the White Mountains (1967), and A Wrinkle in Time (1962).
  • capturing the moral imaginations of its readers
  • because it contains adult themes like infanticide (baby killing) and euthanasia (mercy deaths).
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  • To the surprise and indignation of many of the novels' enthusiasts, The Giver, according to a report by the People for the American Way, was the second most frequently challenged book in 1996.
  • Would-be censors object to the scene because it is so graphic, and because it transforms Jonas's once beloved father into a cold-blooded murderer.
  • The irony of censorship attacks on the novel is that The Giver dramatizes the plight of an individual living in a society that censors its peoples' language, emotions, and behaviors. This irony is compounded by the fact that most who would like to see The Giver censored confess that they have never read the novel in its entirety.
  • it is most realistic to respond to would-be censors' concerns by presenting a constructive reading of The Giver, a reading which is consistent with educators' efforts to discuss controversial scenes in sensitive and responsible ways.
  • “release” is actually murder, that his people literally have limited vision (they can only see in black and white, so do not notice racial differences, or colors of any kind), and that his people have no way to think for themselves, or to make decisions without the Giver's help. (They have no memories of pain and pleasure, and they are sedated so as not to feel the “stirrings” of their own desire.)
  • Through Jonas, Lowry argues for the preservation of a kind of creative vision, a vision which every community needs if it is to benefit from its citizens' differences and input.
  • Here Lowry is suggesting that the vision of an artistic boy, who is open to ideas that exist outside of current paradigms of thought, is of the utmost importance to a society that has lost the ability to perceive differences.
  • Lowry is arguing for the preservation of a particular way of looking at the world that is essential to the survival of the human(e) race.
  • Had Jonas simply rejected his community (as a “lesser” character might have done), the novel would not have carried the same positive psychological impact. Jonas does initially feel contempt for his community, but he quickly develops the insights he needs to channel his anger into constructive actions
  • Lowry's novel is compelling, terrifying, and above all, hopeful. Through reading about Jonas, a boy who has the courage and vision to help his people to acknowledge their pain and differences, Lowry's readers can experience the joy of pushing “open the gate” [Lowry's metaphor] that separates them from Elsewhere. It would be hard to find a more appropriate message for youth, who are immersed in making important decisions about what kinds of people they will one day become.
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    Argument: The Giver is not just a 'controversial' and 'banned' book, but it also has much more depth in it that meets the eye; set within a distopic setting, Lowry uses the setting to construct a way to see into today's morality code as well as the reader's. Claims: *Irony over the censorship of the book *different views on what the book's meaning(s) are Evidence: *Lowry foreshadows this perplexing but hopeful ending when she describes Jonas as Keeper of the "memories of the whole world." Her message, finally, is that one cannot ignore uncomfortable memories; one must embrace a "whole" vision, which contains joy as well as pain, if one (or one's children) is/are ever to feel "at home" in the world. *Through Jonas, Lowry argues for the preservation of a kind of creative vision, a vision which every community needs if it is to benefit from its citizens' differences and input. *The irony of censorship attacks on the novel is that The Giver dramatizes the plight of an individual living in a society that censors its peoples' language, emotions, and behaviors. This irony is compounded by the fact that most who would like to see The Giver censored confess that they have never read the novel in its entirety.
felicia Baron

Criticism on A Walk to Remember - 0 views

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    Argument: The author in his review, "Teen Angel" conceives the idea of tragic romances and how they make for the best love stories, specifically concentrating on "A Walk to Remembers" emphasis on religion coming between a forbidden love. Claims: Religion makes for an interesting love conflict Setting change to modern times makes a difference to the style of writing and overall effect Spark's writing is predictable and follows similar themes in multiple texts Evidence: "Normally, the insurmountable problems in teen love stories are differences in money, class or race. Religion rarely enters the picture as a reason for a couple to stay apart or to try and get together. What is intriguing about A Walk to Remember, which is loosely based on the 1999 novel by Nicholas Sparks, is that one member of the couple is initially considered undesirable and unattractive because of her devout Christian beliefs. The question is: Is her faith an insurmountable obstacle to romance?" "Whereas the novel takes place in the 1950s, screenwriter Karen Janszen (Digging to China) sets the romance amid the permissive and sexually overt teen culture of today." "Those familiar with the other books by Nicholas Sparks (including Message in a Bottle) may guess what the couple's real insurmountable problem turns out to be."
kendallrdunn

Gender and Class in Dickens: Making Connections - 0 views

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    Argument: Women in Dickens novels represent the common worker. Dickens found it important to emphasize that men and their respective mates should be saved from themselves. Main Idea of Argument: In Charles Dicken's Great Expectations Estella is a strong female, taking the lead of the relationship (or lack of) between Pip and herself. As opposed to doing only what she should be doing as a woman in the era. Comparatively, the workers of the era in which the novel was written were oppressed, but still maintained a strong facade. Evidence: 1)"In his portrayal of women in Great Expectations, Dickens saw the world with almost the same unbalanced perspective as does Pip when Magwitch turns him upside down in the churchyard" (Schechner 4). 2) "Crying over lost women, repentant prostitutes, and dying impoverished girls--provided none of these women were wives or political reformers--were causes Dickens loved to champion and did" (Schechner 7). 3)" Dickens wrote as if he believed a woman's place was mostly in the home, doing domestic things and supporting her husband. Mrs. Joe Gargery is an example of what happens when a woman tries to boss a man. Even though Mrs. Joe stays home by the hearth, when she gets too assertive she becomes very unattractive and may even deserve a strong smack on the head" (Schnecher 9). 4) Dickens is unsympathetic with women who socially rebel and who have public causes. Such women become either terrible or ludicrous" (Schnecher 10).
Caitlin Katz

Literary Reference Center - powered by EBSCOhost: Shameful Signification: Narrative and... - 0 views

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    Argument: While often describes as an angry, and early feministic character, Jane Eyre is actually quite shameful in her narration. Claims: Jane Eyre's character is introduced into the story with the exclamation "For shame! For shame!" directed at her. Later, throughout the story, she narrates with the angry and feminist attitude that many critics quote her for, but also with a sense of shame that Charlotte Bronte could probably relate to. Evidence: "This cry 'for shame' suggests that shame constitutes both an introduction of 'Miss Eyre' to the reader and an interpellation of Jane into the contours of gendered interiority and social relations," (Bennett 1).
Tatiana Jerome

Tatiana Jerome - 2 views

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    Argument: Orwell's 1984 is a work of fiction reflecting real-life experiences. Orwell's personal life, from his upbringing to his political experiences, played an important role in the novel. Claim: Inspiration for "Big Brother" came from brutality Orwell experienced at an early age. Beginning in preparatory he was viciously tormented. Later he witnessed oppressive cruelty while stationed in Burma. After Burma Orwell chose to live among the poor to experience poverty. His decision would later give birth to "the proles". Through Orwell's experiences he was able to create fiction based on his real events and people. The novel was intended to warn against corruption in any society after witnessing such corruption in the Spanish Civil War that forced him to flee the country. Although it was wrongly mistaken as a prophecy or attack on socialism it was a warning to all countries the results of corruption. Evidence: "Orwell wrote Nineteen Eighty-Four toward the end of his career, at a point in his life when many of his experiences and political complexities had aged with him through a decades-long internal contemplation" "he intended to warn society of the potential perversions of bureaucracy and the state, the perversions of power that he had witnessed over the previous decade, in a variety of forms, in England and Spain" "His work for the POUM had shown him the contradictions of official appearance, doctored news, class conflict, and the basic human desire for power. Lines can easily be drawn to the thematic structure of Nineteen Eighty-Four"
Megan Brown

Nineteen Minutes Criticism - 1 views

  • Nineteen Minutes offers a fairly straightforward account of what could make a student turn against his (or, sometimes, her) fellow class mates
  • The relationship between Peter and his parents is given more space, but this could also have been examined more closely. Picoult appears to hold back from following up on the intriguing world she creates. Relating the role of parents in raising a child who ends up being a murderer is welcome, particularly when we are told Peter’s father lectures on the economics of happiness. Irony is heaped on irony with the descriptions of Peter’s mother, Lacy, as she is a midwife (and deemed knowledgeable on parenting) and is also seen to be as kind as she is inept in her understanding of her son.
  • This lack of awareness between the parents and child could have been squeezed for more material and this could have been brought about at the expense of editing out the less relevant musings of Alex Cormier, a judge and failing mother.
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  • hese parts feels bolted on and overdone, and have the effect of making the reader even more impatient for a greater insight into the thought processes of the bullies and victims.
    • Megan Brown
       
      In addition to this, this section of the reading emphasizes the novels unimportant details such as the side story of Alex Cormier.  Her love life and marital situations do not relate to the novels overall ideas.  Instead, the major details, like the personality of Peter's older brother and Peter's relationship with his parents at a young age, are left to the reader to fill in missing information--resulting in negative opinions of the book if the unknown doesn't go the reader's way.
    • Megan Brown
       
      There is irony added to the novel when the two things Peter's parents stand for the most seem to be what ultimately caused his colossal downfall: levels of happiness, and good parenting.
    • Megan Brown
       
      This comment by the author further asserts that Picoult focuses too much on the minor characters and less on things worth discussing like the lives of the children who caused the bullying to occur.  What made the bullies act out in the ways they did? Who is the real victim in the novel, or is there even a victim at all?
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Megan Brown

Rob Merritt Interview with Jodi Picoult - 1 views

  • hey were great. Those two really gave me the teacher's point of view. A lot of the details that you see in that first chapter, on the shooting, came from either the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office (Columbine) or from those teachers. I also spoke to a young man named Kevin Braun, who was a survivor at Rocori. His best friend was killed that day, and he was in gym class with the other student who was killed. He had never talked about this with anyone. He says—as I imagine you have heard also—that kids who were there know that there are no words for what happened, and if you weren't there, you'd never understand anyway, so why bother?
  • In terms of the twist at the end, I often do that in my books. I'll have a twist, and I'll know it before I even write it. Because I need to be able to lay a paper trail for you throughout the book, so you can go back at the end and say, "What did I miss?" And of course, thematically, this twist is something you should be able to figure out.
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